Conductor support



Jan. 28, 11936.. J. J. TAYLOR CONDUCTOR SUPPORT Filed July 27, 1955 INVENTOR BY John J. Tay/or W0 ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 28, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GONDUCTOR SUPPORT Application July .27,

2 Claims.

This invention relates to supports for electrical conductors and other flexible strands, and has for one of its objects the provision of a conductor support in which the conductor is held by a keeper piece clamped to the supporting seat at the middle of the keeper piece so as to reduce the required over-all length of the support to a minimum.

A further object of the invention is to provide a conductor support which has a minimum number of parts and which is economical to manufacture and easy to install.

A further object of the invention is to provide a conductor support of improved construction and operation.

Other objects and advantages will appear from the following description.

The invention is exemplified by the combination and arrangement of parts shown in the accompanying drawing and described in the following specification, and it is more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. l is an elevation of a conductor support showing one embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is an end elevation, partly in section, on line 2--2 of Fig. 1.

The numeral lil designates the body of a conductor clamp having a longitudinally extending groove l l forming a conductor seat. The groove H is arcuate in cross section to conform to the circumference of the supported cable and is curved downwardly at the ends of the seat, as shown in Fig. l, to accommodate the downwardly inclined ends of the cable that extend away from the clamp and to prevent an abrupt bend in the cable at the point where it leaves the cable seat. At opposite sides of the body ill and midway of the length thereof are pockets l2 for receiving the ends of the two legs of the supporting yoke it. A keeper ii is disposed above the middle portion of the seat l l for holding the cable in place. A U-bolt !5 extends over the keeper M at its middle point, the ends of the U -bolt projecting through openings in the bottom of the pockets l2 and being held in place by nuts l6. Lock washers El may be employed for holding the nuts IS in place. A pair of pintles 18 are formed integral with the legs of the U-bolt I5 and extend into the pockets E2 in position to engage openings !9 in the ends of the supporting yoke l3.

One important advantage resulting from the formation of the pintles directly on the U-bolt 1935, Serial No. 33,521

is that it is possible with this construction to locate the U-bolt directly at the longitudinal middle of the keeper piece. Heretofore, it has been necessary to provide two U-bolts, one at each side of the central support. The construction of the present invention reduces the required over-all length of the keeper piece by the amount formerly required to span the space between the two U-bolts. The length of the supporting seat beyond the ends of the keeper piece is a substantially fixed quantity for any given construction because this space must provide room for up and down vibration of the cable without bending the cable at the ends 01' the keeper piece. It is thus seen that the use of a single U-bolt located at the middle of the clamp reduces the required length of the clamp by an amount at least equal to the width of the supporting yoke, plus the necessary clearance for the pivotal movement of the yoke relative to the support. This not only efiects a considerable saving in the cost of the clamp but greatly diminishes the effect of vibration on the cable. Where the cable is clamped for an extended distance along its length, there is considerable more interference with vibration waves in the cable and consequently more damage done by these waves than where the support is confined to a single point or a very short distance and the present construction, which reduces the length of support of the cable, therefore materially reduces the effect of vibration on the conductor.

A further advantage resulting from forming the pintles integral with the U-bolt is easier and cheaper manufacture. The formation oi pintles on the U-bolts adds very little, if anything, to the cost of the U-bolt, but where they are formed on the larger parts of the clamp the operation is more expensive. Furthermore, due to the fact that the pintles are subject to wear and cannot be effectively protected against corrosion by galvanizing, it is frequently desirable to form the pintles of a non-corroding material, such as stainless steel. The U-bolt is a much smaller part of the device than the clamp body and consequently can be made out of stainless steel at much less expense than would be necessary if it were attempted to form stainless steel pintles on any other portion of the device.

The use of a single U-bolt at the center of the clamp also makes the necessary size of the pockets l 2 less than is required where a pair of U-bolts are used and the pockets can be given a tapered shape, as shown in Fig. 1, thus increasing the strength of the construction for a given weight of When the pintles are formed on the U-bolt and the keeper piece formed separately, the keepb er piece may be made of a metal of a lower modulus of elasticity than is desirable for the pintles and U-bolt and the ends of the keeper piece can be made to taper to a fairly thin section so that they will flex at their ends in case of vibration of the cable, thus preventing bending of the cable at the end of the keeper piece. While the U-bolt and pintles may be made of stainless steel or other suitable metal having sufficient strength to carry the weight: to which they are subjected, the keeper piece may be made of bronze or aluminum or some other metal having a comparatively low modulus of elasticity and yet be held at the middle point so as to reduce the over-all length of the clamp to a minimum.

I claim: V r

1'. A cableclamp comprising a main body mem 'ber having a longitudinally extending cable seat therein, a keeper for holding a cable in said seat, a U-bolt for clamping the cable between the keeper and seat, said U-bolt being disposed at the longitudinally mid position of said keeper. and seat, pintles on the respective legs of said U-bolt, and means for engaging said pintles for pivotally supporting said cable clamp.

2. A cable clamp comprising an elongated main body member having a longitudinally extending cable seat therein curved downwardly at its opposite ends, said body member having outwardly projecting pockets at opposite sides thereof midway between the ends of said seat, 'a keeper ior holding a cable in said'seat, a U-bolt having the legs thereof disposed in said'pockets and spanning said keeper at the longitudinally mid point thereon for clamping said keeper to said seat, pintles formed integral with the respective legs of said U-bolt and extending into said pocket's, and a supporting yoke having openings therein engaging said pintles and pivotally supporting said cable clamp.

' JOHN J TAYLOR. 

